Page 185 of New Storm Rising
Ellard Simeon Creed flew backwards, blood spattering out of his mouth.
“Did you really think I would allow you tohurt my wife?”
Wham!
Once again, Creed staggered back. There was a harsh crack as his skull slammed against the stone wall. A moment later, his eyes rolled up into his head, and he hit the ground hard.
Striding past me, Mr Rikkard Ambrose gazed down at the unconscious outlaw as blood trickled down the side of his head. Bending down until his mouth was beside the man’s ear, Mr Ambrose spoke, his voice an icy whisper only I could hear.
“Didn’t I tell you? You. Will. Regret. It.”
Straightening, he turned away from the motionless refuse on the ground. For a long moment, Mr Rikkard Ambrose gazed down at his blood-spattered fist—then raised his eyes and let his icy gaze sweep over the remaining desperados. He didn’t even need to utter a single syllable to convey his silent message:Anyone else?
Metallic clatters echoed through the courtyard as every single outlaw pulled their firearms out with their fingertips and dropped them to the ground.
Mr Ambrose gave a curt nod and glanced over at the still frozen deputies. Immediately, they sprang into action, cuffing the desperados and dragging them away without even bothering to look at the sheriff who was supposed to be their actual superior. Mr Ambrose, meanwhile, stepped over to me, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder.
“Are you all right?”
“You…you shot him!”
“Indeed.
“Straight past my face!”
“Indeed.”
“While he was pointing a bloody gun at my head!”
“Indeed.”
I felt my fingers twitch, itching to wrap around a certain someone’s throat. “Stop saying that bloody word! You put my life at risk! What if that bastard’s gun hadn’t been jammed? What would you have done then? You…you…!”
Halfway through my rant I distantly realized he had moved. Moved his arm, specifically. He was holding out his hand and there, on his palm, lay a pile of shiny, metallic objects. Amazingly enough, considering this was Mr Ambrose, they were not coins. Instead…
“Wolf has been working for me from the very beginning,” Mr Ambrose spoke, lifting the shiny bullets on his palm a little higher. His deep, dark, sea-coloured eyes bored into mine, silencing any interruption I might have wanted to make. “Do you really think, Mrs Ambrose, that I wouldn’t have made him empty and disable every single one of their weapons? Do you really think I would let you be in danger?”
Hurling the bullets aside to scatter over the courtyard, Mr Ambrose turned fully towards me. I swallowed at the intensity in his eyes. Eyes that told me he had held everything in his hands from the very beginning. Eyes that told me he would do anything to protect me.
“Besides…” A granite grip captured my wrist, revealing the knife hidden up my sleeve. With his other hand, he grabbed my chin, forcing me to look deep into his eyes. “I couldn’t very well allow you to rescue yourselfagain, now, could I? That’smyjob.”
I glared up at him. “Misogynistic pig!”
“Thank you for the compliment, Mrs Ambrose.”
Taking a step towards me, he leaned forward until his face was only inches away from mine. His eyes suddenly ramped up their intensity to a whole other level, his hand moving from my chin to gently caress my cheek and finally land on my shoulder.
“Now,answer my question. Are you all right?”
His eyes were cold. Hard. Heartless.
They were the eyes of the man whom I loved.
My mouth curled up into a smile. “Yes.”
“Adequate.” Reaching out, he cupped my cheek in his hand. “Stay that way. That is an order.”
My smile spread into a full-blown grin. “Yes, Sir, Mr Ambrose, Sir!”
